


Jewels of Flowers - You're really not fooling anyone (except maybe yourself)

by elletromil



Series: Jewels of Flowers [4]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 17:03:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2199825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elletromil/pseuds/elletromil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dwarves have never cared much for flowers... Until their King married a Hobbit.<br/>Now it seems flowers are the new fad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jewels of Flowers - You're really not fooling anyone (except maybe yourself)

**Author's Note:**

> I am back with the next instalment of this series!
> 
> As it is my first time writing for Kili, I have some doubts that I was able to accurately capture his voice, but I guess you'll let me know. I know for a fact that I've used parenthesis a lot, which I usually don't, but it seemed fitting somehow.
> 
> Those wondering what are the flowers in this fic, I chose purple pansies mainly because I wanted purple flower and they were the first I tumble upon during my google search :p Their meaning is apparently (this is based on a quick google search so I may be wrong) "merriment" and "you occupy my thoughts", which I found fitting for the fic.
> 
> Anyway, I'm letting you read!

The Mountain was in effervescence with all the last minute details that needed to be attended to before the start of the celebrations for the Anniversary of the King and his Consort’s marriage. Food, drinks, decorations, honorable guests quarters, there seemed to be no end to the preparations.

Yet neither the King nor the Prince heir could be found anywhere. Even though Balin and Dis seemed quite at ease directing everyone around, there was no way Kili could leave Thorin and Fili’s mysterious disappearances alone. Not so close to the arrivals of their guests from Mirkwood and Dale. Even if the relations with their neighbours had been quite improved thanks to Bilbo’s diplomacy (and the fact every Humans and Elves couldn’t help but find him adorable, but you hadn’t heard it from Kili), they could not afford any perceived slight.

So Kili had taken upon himself to find the two missing Dwarves and make sure they would be there on time to welcome their guests. A task that had turned out much simpler than one might have thought, as both Dwarves had been in the same room.

It would have been funny to see his Uncle so painstakingly weaving flowers together in an intricate crown if Kili hadn’t known the value Hobbits gave to such crowns.

Fili, for his part, was absorbed into carving something on what appeared to be a pipe. Upon closer inspection, that something turned out to be flowers, which could only mean the pipe was to be a gift for Bofur.

Merely a couple of years ago, he might have complained about the flower-madness that had seemingly fallen on his family as well as a handful of other Dwarves in Erebor. However, after seeing a gold-mad Thorin, he was more than happy to deal with the flowers. At least since the flowers had started making a regular appearance under the Mountain, no one (or well, just Thorin really) was hell-bent on making war. It could have merely been the effect of Bilbo’s positive influence and his Mother’s disapproving glares, but Kili preferred to think it was mostly the flowers as it made for a ready excuse to any weird doings.

Reassured that neither of them had vanished Mahal only knew where, he settled down besides his Uncle, electing himself to stay with them until it was time to go welcome Mirkwood and Dale’s delegations. Never one to idly wait, he selected some of the prettiest flowers nearest of him and started weaving his own flowered crown. Thorin might have shot him a warning look, but Kili paid him no mind. With all the flowers contained inside the room, they could probably provide crowns for everyone attending the celebrations tonight. Thorin would have far enough in order to finish the one for his Consort.

So engrossed he was in making his crown that he did not realised that Fili was done with his carving and on his way to leave the room until he stopped at his sides, examining his work.

“Pretty crown... Who is it for?”

Kili frowned at his brother. “No one, I’m merely occupying my time until it’s time to drag Uncle away to welcome the guests.” Said Uncle grunted at that bit, but did not gave any other indication that he was really listening, bent that he was on studying his work in order to improve it furthermore.

Fili snorted, before shaking his head in false disapproval. “Of course, ‘occupying your time’. You’re not fooling me Kili.” He shuffled his younger brother hair affectionately and then left before Kili had the time to retaliate or at least ask what he was on about.

He would have followed and demanded explanations, but he still had to make sure Thorin wouldn’t miss the Celebration because of his desire for unattainable perfection, so he simply shrugged and wrote it down as some flower-related madness.

A couple hours later, when he forced Thorin to abandon any idea of ‘improvement’ (he really couldn’t understand his Uncle; Bilbo would have been quite content with the crudest of design and yet, he had to make it so that anyone would swore the crown had been made with the finest metalwork and the best gems that could be found under the Mountain), he took his own crown with him. It would have been a waste to let it wither away in the room when the end result was perfectly pleasing. He would surely find someone more than happy to wear it and if not he could always keep it for himself.

As he lifted it from the table he had set it upon after its completion, Thorin’s gaze followed his hands and a small (annoyingly) knowing smile lit his face. “Beautiful work. I think it will suit her.” And before Kili could say anything, he urged him towards the door. “Come now, we must not let our guests wait.”

Sometimes, Kili didn’t know what stopped him from maiming his family (probably some ‘love’ nonsense or maybe it was all the flowers fault yet again).

~

The celebrations were well under way and could only be deemed a success. Even the Men and the Elves seemed to be enjoying themselves and mingling with the people of Erebor. Well the Elves weren’t so much mingling as getting drunk on wine, but as they were doing so alongside Dwarves and none (either Dwarf or Elf) had yet to pick a fight, it had to count for something.

But successful party or no, Kili was getting a bit bored. Usually, he shared time of festivities with his brother and if he had stayed in his and Bofur’s company for a couple of hours, he had left them when they had started to dance. His Uncle and Bilbo had only eyes for one another and they were sharing looks that made Kili wish they would get a room already, so he was keeping his distances, thank you very much. All the others of the Company seemed to be either paired off (Bifur and Oin as well as Balin and Dori, and Kili was so not following that line of thought), busy getting drunk (Bombur and Gloin) or both (Dwalin _and_ Ori, and who would have thought that the small scribe could hold his own against the likes of Dwalin?). Only Nori was nowhere to be seen, most probably busy being sneaky.

The atmosphere starting to feel more stifling than he could stand, he made his way to one of the balcony connected to the Celebration Halls.

It turned out that he had not been the first to get the idea, as Tauriel was sitting on the bench, her eyes turned towards the stars.

He hesitated a moment, not wanting to disturb her, but his next step must have been loud enough to break her contemplation as she turned quickly towards him, the wariness on her face soon turning to a smile when she took notice of who had intruded her peace.

“Sorry,” he mumbled quickly. “I did not want to bother you; I was only looking for a bit of fresh air. I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait!” she exclaimed before he could go back inside, “I would be glad for the company, if you do not mind mine.”

He nearly snorted derisively at her comment. If only she knew how much he found her company refreshing compared to the way he was treated by the Dwarves outside of the Company since Erebor had been reclaimed. It was as if they did not know how to act with him now that he really had a Kingdom to his name (never mind he was only second in line to inherit of said Kingdom, sometimes they acted as if he was Durin himself). She at least acted the same way she had since they met (minus the imprisonment) and they had taken to chat every time they could between official matters.

Before she could reiterate her invitation, he took a seat at her sides. “Aren’t you having fun? Do you find the celebrations lacking in any way?” he inquired after a beat. She might have been sent by Thranduil only as a guard for his son Legolas who was acting as his emissary (it was clearly a slight from the King of Mirkwood, sending his son instead of coming himself when he had been the one (grudgingly) invited, but as most their dealings with Mirkwood were done with Legolas and the Elf was not that bad on his good days, the joke was on Thranduil really), but titles meant little when one was a guest of the Dwarves. It would not do if she had become bored and he would do anything to change her state of mind.

She laughed at his obvious worry, shaking her head. “No, no! It’s just that the night was so clear and the stars so bright, it seemed like a shame to not take a moment to enjoy the sight.”

Following her longing gaze towards the night sky, Kili could not deny her words.

“I am having a good time really,” she reassured him further, before looking back inside, an amused glint in her eyes. “And I think I can speak for my fellow Elves if I say that so are they.” Seeing as they were all currently cheering their own Prince who had been somehow roped into a drinking contest with Dwalin (and if there was a recipe for disaster that didn’t involved him nor his brother, this was it) Kili thought it was a good appraisal of the situation. He really just hoped that none of the inebriated Dwarves (Dwalin had is fair share of Dwarves encouraging him) nor any of the drunken Elves would start something they would all regret in the morning. However, the contest seemed to be good-natured enough right now and Legolas would have undoubtedly chosen his followers well enough to prevent any unneeded skirmish, even if drunk out of their minds.

Tauriel smiled at her people antics for a while, before she picked up the conversation. “But I must say that I was not expecting to see as much flowers...” He hadn’t either, but it seemed the Dwarves had also been charmed by Bilbo (no surprise there really) and had gone a bit overboard with the decorations in an attempt to please their King’s Consort. Except in meadows, he had never seen as much flowers and that was without taking into account those who had gone into the habit of braiding flowers into their One’s hair or beard (Dwalin had unknowingly started a new trend among warriors with his flowered beard).

And if no Dwarf not in the direct line of succession would have dared to wear a crown or coronet (except for Bofur, but as he was in a Courtship with the Prince heir it was kind of expected of him, and wasn’t it strange to see him without his hat), the flowered crowns seemed to be fair game. None was more beautiful than those worn by the King and his Consort, as no one had had Thorin’s dedication or Bilbo’s practice and skills, but they were still a sight to behold as Tauriel and Kili observed the Dwarves still inside dancing in the glow of the torches.

“I think I’m even a bit envious of those crowns,” Tauriel whispered wistfully after a moment. She was still watching the couples twirling about the dance floor and did not notice when Kili took off the crown he had decided to wear when he hadn’t found anyone to give it to.

However, when he handed it to her wordlessly, she looked at him with surprise. Still, one of her hand hovered on top of it longingly, even though she made no move to take it from him.

“I know it is traditional for Hobbits to offer flowered crowns to their intended, but I know naught of Dwarven customs regarding them.”

Sometimes Kili wished that suddenly hitting your head on a wall was an action that was socially acceptable in any moment. Or at least, that he would not be so _stupid_. He might have made many improvements regarding politics and he might have found out that Fili was in love with Bofur (his brother’s jab that he might have been interested in someone, even though he did not fancy everyone he met, hadn’t been as subtle as he might have wished, especially not with the yearning look he had thrown at Bofur while saying so), he was still mostly blind to his own heart. Of course he enjoyed Tauriel’s company a lot and found her beautiful and kind and he also found her an amazing warrior, but as his brother had said a few months ago, he did kind of have the habit of fancying everyone he met. How was he to know that he had passed the stage of mere _fancy_ and was now simply _in love_?

And even if it explained the cryptic comments of his family about the crown, he still had a moment of full-blown panic. Not only he did not know the first thing about Elvish Courtships rituals, he did not even know if Tauriel would desire such a relationship with him. Friendly as they might be, he was still a Dwarf. Would she even consider him for her One? Did Elves even _have_ Ones?

Yet, she had not seemed appalled, merely curious and was still looking at him with a warmth in her eyes that he missed everyday she was back in Mirkwood.

“To be honest, Dwarves have never really cared for flowers... But I think that after tonight, these crowns will hold the same meaning for us as they do for Hobbits.” He swallowed nervously, before adding. “At least, it’ll be the meaning I give them.” He took a bracing breath, before looking at her hopefully. “Will you accept my Courting gift?”

He feared a moment that he had damaged their friendship beyond repair (because if a Dwarf could not have their One’s love, then their friendship was an inestimable gift they would forever cherish) when Tauriel raised her hand, but she merely did so in order to cup his cheek and pull his head up to bestow a fleeting kiss on his lips.

Then she bowed her head, and Kili was so distracted by the redness on the pointy tip of her ears that it took him a moment to realise that she was waiting for him to lay the crown on her head. However once the realization hit him, he did so as carefully and reverently as he could, his heart beating loudly in his ears.

Once he was done, Tauriel straightened up and he could see that her cheeks too were blushed. “How does it look?”

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered and he was not even trying to compliment her, because he was only stating the truth. Her cheeks and ears rosy from embarrassment and enchantment, the purple flowers creating a stunning effect in her long unbound hair, her form against the starry sky, she was a sight to behold, one who would have made the envy of the Goddesses of old.

Even had he wanted to, he could not have looked away from her and it would have mortified him, if Tauriel had not seemed to be in the same predicament. She took his hand in hers and smiled regretfully, “I am sorry that I have none of my own to offer you.”

He shook his head fervently, as he was still wordless. The simple fact that she had accepted his gift and was wearing it was more than enough, at least for tonight. However, as he thought it, he remembered that he still had not the faintest idea of the proceedings of Elvish Courtships.

“Will you tell me about yours?”

At her questioning glance he chuckled awkwardly. He was so used to Fili following his very thoughts that he often forgot that he had to put them into words for other to understand him.

“Your customs of Courtship, I mean... If you share the ones of your people with me, I will tell you about those of mine.”

Once more she seemed surprise, but it soon turned into delight. “I will be more than glad,” she answered, joyful laughter clear in her voice, drawing him near to kiss his cheek.

 

They stayed on the balcony, talking until the Sun made his appearance into the sky. And if simply being in her company filled Kili’s heart with pleasure, what truly amazed him was something else entirely.

Because no matter how long they spoke that night, not once Tauriel look back towards the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> This was it, I hope you like it!
> 
> Next instalment in the series will be named : Jewels of Flowers - Hope for better days. As it is already written, you can expect it at the latest tomorrow.
> 
> As always, I don't have a beta, so if you spot a mistake, please tell me :)


End file.
